A nice little place to park in the heart of New Plymouth – صحيفة الصوت

When the doors are closed at the Nice Hotel you might find Terry Parkes unwinding in his tropical sanctuary out back.

Beneath sky duster palms (Washingtonia robusta), the owner of the boutique hotel finds peace.

“If I come out here with a gin and see a stream of light by the lemon tree, I’ll sit there. I follow the sun,” says Terry, who has just returned from Portugal sporting spotted rainbow-hued suede shoes.

He also loves to pull up a chair and watch the goldfish.

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“I spend lots of time here; I like it best when no one’s here, which is a silly thing for a hotel owner to say.”

The impacts of the Covid pandemic have led to the hotel closing on Sundays and Mondays. “I love it – it turns into my house.”

One he shares with partner John, whose calming influence and supportive nature have been hugely helpful to Terry.

On the flipside to the solitary, Terry is a colourful character, ready with an acerbic quip or sparkling yarn, often served with bubbly, probably on the flower-festooned deck overlooking the luxurious garden.

“People come in the door and don’t realise this little tropical oasis is out here. It’s a constant, ‘wow, wow, wow’.”

The garden is filled with ferns, cycads, nikau, the sky dusters, impatiens, lemon and lime trees, bromeliads, small and giant bird of paradise plants, mondo grass, plus renga renga surging from an urn.

There are also “Monstera deliciosa floribunda”.

Drop the floribunda and you have the fruit salad plant, which is growing below the deck at The Nice.

Add the floribunda and you have a made-up Terry Parkesism.

“During the garden festival, when people ask me ‘what’s that?’ Monstera deliciosa floribunda – I say that for everything. Some believe it, some pretend to believe it and some don’t believe it. I think, why does the name matter unless you want to buy one?”

Sometimes, he has other answers.

When asked what type of ferns are growing beneath the towering palms, he replies “green fern, light green fern, dark green fern”.

While he might not be au fait with foliage, he’s always reliable when friends or the community need him.

He’s in there, funky boots and all, supporting charities and causes, although the Covid climate has tempered his ability to help as much as he’d like.

As a hotel host, Terry is warm and welcoming, charming and cheeky.

For the Centuria Taranaki Garden Festival he will be welcoming people into No 20 on the programme of 43 gardens.

The festival, on from October 28 to November 6, is collaborating with the Taranaki Arts Trail featuring 79 artists and the Taranaki Sustainable Backyards Trail, featuring 30 properties.

Listed under the category of “Special Interest”, Terry invites people to enjoy a “Lunch in a Tropical Oasis”, or to pop in for a rest and a wine between gardens, while soaking in the beauty of the small garden behind the old wooden building on Brougham St.

Built about 1885, the hotel used to be the surgery of Dr George Walker. “His father was also a doctor,” Terry says. “Since then, the family have come back and stayed. They love the place and have given me George Walker’s plaque, saying he’s a doctor.”

The plaque is displayed on the front of The Nice Hotel.

“The surgery is now the Table restaurant and the waiting room is now the Lobby bar,” says Terry, who has lived in the building since 1994, transforming it into a hotel in 2000.

Preserving houses and history are important to the Taranaki man.

“It would have been easier to have bowled it and more economic – the maintenance is unbelievable.”

During the past four months, The Nice has been rejuvenated with new carpet, fresh paint and the artworks have been changed around.

In contrast, the garden, is relatively easy care.

In the beginning, Terry thought it was too stark.

“I have had two to three different gardens that I tried doing myself with banana palms, renga renga around the pond and waterfall, but it never progressed. It peaked and looked shabby.”

So, about 20 years ago, he called on the talents of landscape and interior designer Michael Mansvelt.

The gardening star drew up a plan that uncovered areas Terry says he would never have seen.

“The couple of days he was planting it I was away and when I came back, I was astounded at the starkness. There were all these little wee palms.”

But patience is a virtue with gardens, and Michael’s design prowess has paid off and continues to flourish.

“Within 12 months I could see the money’s worth and now, 20 years later, with these large tropical palms…” he says gazing at the soaring sky dusters.

When the palms grew tall, Terry wondered if something could be done to stop the trunks from looking too bare, so Michael used wire netting to create “tree gardens” of orchids and bromeliads. These resemble clumps of epiphytes, which grow naturally on trees in native bush.

Terry says the garden doesn’t need much maintenance but continues to flourish through the care and attention of friend Lynnie Parker, who comes every Friday.

“It’s a job of love for her, with the odd glass of bubbles,” he says.

She trims, clears away any dead material, tidies with the leaf blower, and feeds everything using liquid fertiliser.

“That’s the answer to a luscious garden – fertiliser,” Terry says.

Birds, lights, music, food and people also help the garden thrive, bringing it alive.

Fantails flit among the plants and people, a kereru sits in the pōhutukawa and tui do a dance around the New Zealand Christmas tree.

At the front of the hotel is a pōhutukawa known as “Māori Princess”, introduced by Duncan & Davies.

“They are a bloody nuisance. They flower for a week and a half, followed by six months of mayhem.”

The roots and crimson flowers block drains and the red strands are traipsed through hotel, while other bits of the blooms land on the outside chairs, annoying sitters.

“Having said all that, I wouldn’t be without them.”

The Nice garden is also illuminated.

“There are lots of solar lights in the garden so when it gets dark, it turns into a fairyland.”

One that’s seen many nuptials.

Terry has been a celebrant for the past 15 years, taking up the role when people were needed to perform civil unions.

In the garden, he’s taken many ceremonies, mostly for second marriages and, in the community, he’s been the celebrant at many funerals.

There have been a few memorial services on the deck or in the garden at the Nice and, along with the weddings, there’s been a feast of other celebrations and events.

“The garden has been a milestone in a lot of people’s lives,” Terry says.

But his favourite night of festivities was his own 60th birthday. “I had the whole pipe band, a champagne and crayfish station outside and another station inside, and live music.”

During the garden festival, Terry has hosted green-fingered folk from all over Aotearoa and the world, including a few stars like former garden presenter Maggie Barry, celebrity florist and craft designer Astar and bugman Rudd Kleinpaste.

“Most of anyone who’s been associated with gardens have stayed here,” he says. “I’ve made life-long friends.”

Among the latter are groups of women who come from Australia to attend the festival and men from the Hero gardens in Auckland.

“The place (hotel) is so flamboyant, it really appeals to the rainbow community,” Terry says.

“It’s a garden full of stories.”

This story is published as a partnership between the Taranaki Daily News and the arts festival charitable trust TAFT.